I have a cold.
My cold is of the regular kind, involving headache, congestion, runny nose, intermittent sore throat, and copious coughing.
It’s not catastrophic, but it is a drag. I’m tired, coughing a bunch, have no appetite, and I need rest and a some down time to get past it.
But have I gotten a lot of rest? NO. Okay, I’ve rested some, but did I take any sick days Monday or Tuesday? NO. Why not?
Hard question. Actually, not-a-hard question: I just didn’t feel like I could take time off work and my regular life to rest and do nothing other than rest until I felt a good deal better.
I did compromise by Zooming into meetings and classes I teach. But, I also prepped for classed and did a little grading and a medium amount of email Monday and Tuesday. And I also prepped for a talk I’m giving on GLP-1 drugs and food noise for a primary care medical practice on Wednesday, because I didn’t want to cancel or reschedule.
I can’t help but think.
OF COURSE there’s another way. There’s calling in sick, which is a privilege for those who have jobs that allow them to. I have such a job– I’m a college professor at a state university and member of a union that fights for and wins benefits like paid sick leave.
BUT BUT… We had a bunch of snow days this term. My students/colleagues will be/feel let down if I stay home. I’ll get behind on work/syllabus/meeting minutes. And it’s not like I’m seriously ill. I just have a cold. What about that?
Sometimes– in particular (but not limited to) when we are sick, we need to shut down and do nothing but rest. Here are some role models I found.
Can we all pause and think about following the lead of Cat and Fox when the need arises? I’m working on it. After my talk on Wednesday. By which time I hope and expect I’ll be on the upswing.
But for next time… Here’s hoping, for all of us who work through things when maybe we don’t absolutely have to. Just a thought.
